Tuesday, September 22, 2026 Opening bell

Nasdaq hits record, futures flat before Fed speakers

Overnight

US stocks finished Monday higher, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% to 7,764.70 and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.3% to 27,122.09, its 21st record close of 2026, while the Dow gained 0.7% to 52,048.83. Asia mostly followed overnight, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.2% to 25,042.71 and South Korea's Kospi adding a further 2.2% to 7,161.61 in early trade, though Tokyo was shut for a public holiday. Europe has gone the other way this morning, with the Stoxx 600, the region's main index of 600 large companies, down 0.3% to 640.19, and US futures, which are bets on where the market opens, sit close to flat with the Dow up 0.16% and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.03%.

What to watch

Three Federal Reserve officials speak today, New York Fed President John Williams at 10:05am Eastern, Vice Chair Philip Jefferson at 10:20am, and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin at 1pm, and investors will be listening for any hint about where interest rates go from here. President Trump addresses the United Nations General Assembly and may meet Iran's president and China's Xi Jinping on the sidelines, which matters for oil because Brent crude, the global price benchmark, has swung on Middle East headlines all month and is back above $101. Earnings arrive from AutoZone, KB Home, Thor Industries, Worthington Enterprises and MillerKnoll, a set of companies that together read as a check on whether households are still spending on big ticket items.